Doctor Quincy Tophet is the second scientist aboard the Nathan James.
Biography[]
Quincy was born in the United Kingdom where he met and married a woman named Kelly and raised a daughter together, Ava. Quincy eventually became a scientist after studying in Russia and the US and worked and befriended a colleague Dr. Rachel Scott and became her partner in 2004. When the Red Flu first started popping up in Egypt, Quincy was the only one who supported Rachel's theory about its origins and accompanies her on a mission to the Arctic. He disagreed with governments withholding information on the virus from each other.
Events of The Last Ship[]
Season 1[]
Quincy is first seen loading equipment onto the Nathan James when the ship's captain Tom Chandler arrives. Quincy reassures Chandler that the equipment is so they don't contaminate the work, not the other way around. Quincy and Rachel spend four months in the Arctic and working in their lab before finding the primordial sample of the virus. When they are attacked by Russian helicopters, Quincy flees back to the ship. Quincy later works with Rachel to preserve their work when a nuclear missile launched by the Russians knock out their power grid. After the power is restored, Quincy continues to work with Rachel in the lab to analyze the primordial and a new strain of the virus found on an Italian cruise ship. After Chandler tells Rachel she will need to make the vaccine on their ship and announces they aren't heading home, Quincy is seen talking on the SAT phone he and Rachel share where he is speaking Russian and telling his contact that they are turning around. (“Phase Six”)
Once Quincy tells him that they are heading to Guantanamo Bay instead, he is ordered to keep the Nathan James there as long as possible. Quincy says he will try and hangs up just as Rachel walks in where they discuss what they will need to built a fully functioning lab. Quincy then suggests that due to Rachel's exhaustion and tireless hours that he should go off ship this time and give Rachel time to rest. Rachel says she will think about it and Quincy later sits in when Rachel explains how the virus works to the command staff of the Nathan James. Rachel eventually rejects his offer and despite Quincy's protests insists that she be the one to go because of his meticulous nature.
Quincy insists it is too dangerous for her to leave the ship and Chandler walks in a moment later and agrees with him. Quincy goes to get his bio-suit before Chandler stops him, saying they are both too valuable to risk their lives. Quincy tried to sabotage the ship's engineering room with poisonous halon gas before being stopped by Rios. Quincy lies to Rios, saying he was just trying to heat up his room and one of the enlisted men told him the lever would do that. Quincy leaves and joins Rachel in CIC where he witnesses the crew dispatched to Guantanamo under attack by terrorists led by Amir. After they successfully kill all the terrorists, Quincy stalls for time by saying one of the machines got tipped over thanks to the Nathan James' cannon fire and insists on having three to four hours to readjust it. (“Welcome to Gitmo”)
When Quincy's contact, Konstantin Ruskov, arrives on his warship and Chandler and Ruskov agree to meet, Chandler asks for Quincy to accompany him to the meeting. Quincy approaches Ruskov to test his blood before Ruskov's men pull guns on him. Quincy says he is unarmed, revealing his identity to them, and Ruskov orders his men to stand down. After Quincy confirms Ruskov isn't infected, Chandler and Ruskov discuss their own views on their current situation and Ruskov's demands for the primordial, Dr. Scott and her research. Chandler refuses to hand over Rachel but does offer a sample of the primordial, which Ruskov refuses. Quincy then volunteers to go with them instead but Ruskov also rejects this.
After returning to the ship, Quincy starts loading all the samples into a container and kidnaps Rachel at gunpoint the next day. Quincy leads her the side of the Nathan James and tells her to jump before he caught by a sailor. Quincy shoots at him while Rachel uses the opportunity to flee with Quincy in pursuit. Rachel reaches the mess hall screaming for help and Quincy is held at gunpoint by two sailors. Quincy drops his gun but picks up a sample of the virus, threatening to release it and kill the entire crew unless they let him leave with Rachel. Rachel refuses to leave and manages to talk Quincy down and he reluctantly hands over the virus to her before the sailors arrest him.
Quincy is interrogated by Comms. Slattery and Chandler and he explains that when governments started hoarding information on the virus and refused to share with each other, Quincy started sharing information with a Russian scientist named Dr. Sergei Yumanov. When Quincy called him two weeks before the Russians attacked them in the Arctic, Ruskov answered the phone and revealed that he killed Sergei and kidnapped Quincy's family to use as leverage against him.
Slattery realizes it was Quincy's wife Kelly who stalled them in Guantanamo by pretending to be the captain of a U.K. Destroyer and Quincy states Ruskov was just using her to get to him and Rachel. Quincy begs them to save his family regardless of what they do with him, suspecting he will kill them if he fails. When Chandler asks what Quincy's plan was he explains that Ruskov left him a speedboat on the other side of the beach which he was to use to deliver everything to him on the Vyerni.
The Nathan James manages to use this information to fool Ruskov and flee while Quincy is locked in his room. Chandler come to see him and asks if Ruskov had a back-up plan and Quincy responds that he has no idea. As Chandler leaves Quincy scolds him for abandoning his family to be killed before Chandler screams Quincy did that himself and had two of his men killed when he got in bed with Ruskov. Quincy tries to say he had no choice but Chandler screams that he could have come to him for help and endangered the fate of the entire because he tried to do it all by himself. Quincy angrily asks Chandler what he would have done if it was his family on Ruskov's boat not Quincy's and screams for an answer as Chandler leaves. (“Dead Reckoning”)
Quincy is confined to his room under armed guard because of his actions when Rachel visits him. She tries to convince him to analyze the data she got from each strain of the virus but he refuses. When Rachel tries to tell him the world needs them, Quincy lashes out stating it needs Rachel, making her the center of attention which is what she wants. Quincy goes further, theorizing that was why she was willing to keep information on the virus secret and sneaking off to the Arctic for answers. Quincy blames himself for risking his family when she wasn't risking anyone because she was so self-centered.
Rachel angrily confronts him with the fact that the Nathan James is filled with people with pain similar to his but they keep finding a way to push on while Quincy acts like a coward and leaves in disgust. Chandler sends Slattery to get Quincy to cooperate, who gives him his history as a homicide cop before lighting a cigar, despite Quincy asking him not to. Slattery tells about keelhauling, subtly implying the crew would love to do that to him, while Quincy is convinced Chandler would never allow something like that. Slattery says it doesn't matter because torture wasn't very effective and most people, if they are given the facts, treated with respect and given a chance to redeem themselves, would usually make the right choice.
Quincy is still defiant, but Slattery warns him that anything on the ship that doesn't serve a purpose is tossed overboard. Quincy offers Slattery a deal: if he is allowed outside and given someone to play chess with he will work with Rachel and Slattery agrees to his terms. Quincy finds out that someone added an altered human gene to the virus. Bacon arrives a few days later to play chess with him after the Nathan James finds an island and makes it clear he isn't interested in being his friend since he's the reason he isn't relaxing on the island himself. (“We'll Get There”)
Quincy is seen in his room when Comm. Chandler explains the things they saw while out getting monkeys for Dr. Scott's research and announces that they are going home. While outside playing chess with Bacon, Quincy asks him about how long it will take and what they will do with him. Bacon replies it will take seven to ten days and he will probably be thrown into a cell off the ship. Quincy questions this seeing as how he found the human gene and Bacon counters with the fact he tried to kill everyone on the ship with the virus. Quincy tries to defend his actions because he was desperate to save his family, but Bacon simply says he can't help him and if he could he wouldn't.
When the ship is stopped the next day, Quincy asks Bacon why and Bacon says so the officers can figure out where to make the vaccine. Quincy doubts this as the only facilities that would work are in North America or Puerto Rico and suggests something is wrong. When asked, Quincy theorizes that Rachel's experiments are failing and Bacon wonders why the captain isn't using him if they are. Quincy says it is because Chandler is stubborn and won't admit he's wrong and brings up several of his past decisions in negative context. Bacon leaves with Quincy reminding him that the captain is hiding something from him.
After Bacon tells him Cossetti saw Rachel dumping medical waste off the ship, Quincy says that had to be the monkeys after they died from the virus because Rachel's vaccines failed. When asked about the lockdown, Quincy suspects it was because many of them came in contact with sick people in Nicaragua and doesn't trust the tests. Quincy asked if anyone else feels the senior staff aren't being honest, Bacon confirms this. Quincy then plants ideas in Bacon's head suggesting he and his friends should abandon ship because it isn't as safe as the captain claims. After sixteen enlisted men request to leave the ship, including Bacon, Bacon reports back to Quincy who insists that he be allowed to come with them. The sixteen sailors eventually request to re-enlist after Chandler talks to them about what happened and Bacon tells Chandler everything Quincy has been telling him. As punishment Chandler confiscates Quincy's chess board and prevents him from having anymore contact with Bacon. (“Lockdown”)
When Chandler and Tex Nolan are lost at sea while fighting the Russians, Slattery has Quincy brought to CIC to translate intercepted communications from their ship. Slattery asks what it will cost them and Quincy replies that all he wants is Ruskov dead. A Russian communication is intercepted and Quincy says they are still searching the water and they think the Americans have drowned. Slattery suspects it is deliberate misinformation fed to them by the Russians and decides to ignore it. (“SOS”)
The Russians eventually capture Chandler and Tex and Rachel agrees to go on their ship with the vaccine and a gun to rescue them. Quincy helps pack the case Rachel will be using to carry everything in and hands it to her. Before she goes she thanks him and asks him to finish what they started if they don't come back with Quincy nodding in agreement. When they all come back, Quincy sees Kelly and Ava alive and well and rushes over to hug them both in relief. (“Two Sailors Walk Into a Bar”)
While Quincy helps set up the lab for human trials on the vaccine, Quincy approaches Chandler thanks him for what he did for his family despite all the trouble Quincy caused. Quincy then conducts interviews alongside Rios and Rachel to find potential candidates. After the trials have begun Quincy helps in monitoring the patients and everything seems to be running as expected until Kara starts developing a high fever and seizing. After she has stabilized Quincy tells Chandler that it can't be a side effect of the prototype vaccine. Quincy theorizes they could not have build a strong enough vaccine off Bertrise's blood.
Rachel has Quincy give them something to help reduces the symptoms. When tries to hand Lt. Comm. Andrea Garnett the latest engine reports she can't grab it with her fingers and Quincy notices the blood flow to her fingers has stopped. After the others start developing odd symptoms too Quincy urges Rachel to consider that the prototypes aren't working. After Maya Gibson dies from the virus Quincy is certain that these are symptoms of the virus but Rachel disagrees. Quincy suggests transfusing Bertrise blood to the remaining patients in the hopes that it could buy them time with Rachel strongly objecting, but Bertrise decides for herself to do it.
Quincy hands Rachel Kara's lab reports revealing that she is pregnant. Quincy finds Rachel in the helo bay trying to get some space to think and reports that Bertrise's blood didn't work and the symptoms are getting worse while Bertrise is healing up. When Rachel is starting to have doubts Quincy encourages her, saying she is the best and they will find another way. Rachel suddenly bursts in realizing the virus adapted using its human gene to trick the body into attacking itself and concludes she needs to hide the gene. While Quincy agrees with the virus adaption theory he expresses doubt that the human body can produce the vaccine on their own until Rachel suggests using the Arctic strain as a trojan horse and it works. (“Trials”)
Quincy injects people with the proven cure with Bertrise taking the names of his patients. Quincy is heard arguing with Kelly in his room while Ava sits outside. Quincy After Kelly takes Ava to get some food, Quincy tells Rachel that Kelly can't forgive him for what he put them through and he can't either. Rachel tells him that once they get on solid ground that they can start again. Quincy is later seen giving Lt. Pete Norris of the Maryland State Troopers the cure. Quincy is on the bridge with Slattery, Foster and Gator when Norris shoots Ford, the helmsman. Norris makes demands which Slattery refuses to meet and hostilities between them grows. Quincy tries to rush Norris but his shot in the stomach. (“No Place Like Home”)
Season 2[]
As he lies in a pool of his own blood, Kara, Gator and Slattery are treating his wounds when Slattery demands Norris get Rios here to treat him. Rios arrives and treats him on the bridge because Norris refuses to move him to the med bay. When the State Troopers are unable to find the primordial, Norris immediately suspects Quincy hid it somewhere (in reality it was Rios). Norris kicks Quincy's foot to get him to answer, but he barely responds so Norris forces Rios to give him some adrenaline so he'll be more responsive. While Rios prepares it, Quincy tells Rios to hide the vaccine somewhere on the bridge. The State Troopers then bring Kelly to the bridge where Norris uses her as a hostage to get Quincy to reveal the location of the primordial. Quincy confesses that he hid it and only he knows where it is. Norris demands he tell him while holding a gun to Kelly's head, but Quincy just tells Kelly he is sorry and he loves her. Then he tells Norris he will never find it and rips off the clamp preventing him from bleeding, reopening his wound and then dies before he could tell them anything. (“Unreal City”)
After the ship is retaken, Slattery retrieves the samples and gives them to Scott. When she asks if he was responsible for saving them, Slattery tells her it wasn't him and credits Quincy and Rios with the save. (“Fight the Ship”)
Legacy[]
His work with Dr. Scott helped her in developing a cure to the Red Flu saving millions of lives, most notable is finding Niels' human gene in the virus. That being said, not all of his actions were entirely virtuous as he disobeyed orders to communicate with a Russian scientist on the virus. While done for noble intentions, it exposed Quincy to blackmail and caused his family to be kidnapped by Ruskov. Instead of coming clean to Rachel or anyone on the Nathan James he started feeding information to Ruskov, which lead to Smith and Berchem getting killed. He continued to work on Nathan James, but only if they met his demands. He even instigated a minor coup with sixteen of the enlisted men through his chess partner Bacon trying to convince them to leave the ship.
After Ruskov was killed and Chandler rescued his family however, Quincy was much more cooperative and appreciative of the crew and actively worked on the cure again with no strings attached and happily injected the crew members with the cure. When Maryland State Troopers took over the ship he tried to stop them and was shot for his troubles. Even as he was bleeding he refused to help them develop the cure to protect the Nathan James and when they threatened his wife, he took his own life to protect the secret and protect them, showing he had learned from past mistakes. The crew, Rachel and his family mourned his loss, showing he had fully redeemed himself in their eyes.